If your specifically looking for a Maine Coon, MC breeders have "pet quality" kittens. That means for whatever reason, the breeder feels they are not "show quality". Be it a confirmation fault, color fault, confirmation/color, or they feel the kitten will not take to showing. Nothing at all, wrong with the kitten health wise. These would still be a registered Maine Coon, still have the same health guarantees, but would be much less expensive, and you would still have a mentor to help you, with the kitten. Breeders also have "retired" show cats. Doesn't mean they are old, just means, they have gone as far as they can in Premiership, the breeder needs to make room for new kittens, and they want to find the cat a very good home. The cat would already be spayed/neutered, have all his shots, and come from an atmosphere, of he has seen it all, done it all, nothing phases him. They are ballpark 3 yrs old, some might be 2, some might be 4. They too, are much less expensive.
The thing you need to remember with kittens, is they have very sensative little systems. Any food change, must be made over 2 weeks. With kittens, its really not a good idea, to rotate foods, it upsets their systems. Kittens need to be on kitten food, its higher in protein and calories, for their growing bodys. You want to stay away from purina kitten chow, friskies kitten chow, any purina products. I feed Blue Wilderness, its by Blue Buffalo. Last recall was in 2010, and it was because too much vitamin D was showing up in the dog food, dogs got sick, none died. It was because they processed a vitamin D product, and did not clean the machine properly, before they processed the dog food. They were not involved with the Menu Foods saga of 2007, too many other companies were.
Since you are a dog food nutritionist, you know the importance of grain free, by product free, soy free, so won't go into that, lol.
Wet is better than dry. You need to feed wet, mixed with water, so it keeps them flushed out, that is imperative with little boy kitties, who are prone to crystals, urinary and bladder issues. Girl kitties can also have urinary issues, but boys are more prone to them. Grains is the biggest cause, its one of many. You also want to avoid feeding fish flavored foods and treats, like salmon flavored, tuna flavored, etc. That is another big cause of crystals.
If you go the fish oil route, make sure you get a good quality one, like nordic, and make sure its cold pressed.
Blue Wilderness already has the omega 3/6 in there, it has the highest amount. Freedom, also by Blue Buffalo, is grain free too, it does not have any fish meal in it, and its lower in fat and protein %'s, and has the omega 3/6. The poster who said, nutrients are lost in processing, is correct, in some instances, the process, not the poster, lol. But now with Blue Wilderness, their fur is soft and shiny, and I see many people, say the same thing, cat and dog people, on the BB FB site.
I feed wet in the morn, mixed with water, and dry at night, and mine are scheduled fed.
I don't agree with rotating feeds, if there is an issue, the first thing the vet will ask you, what do you feed, they rule out the food first. If one is feeding more than one food, its harder and takes longer, to rule out the food. I had an issue a few yrs ago, and time was critical, they had specialists working on her. She only ate BW, so they ruled that out, almost immed, and with a call to BB. If she was eating more than one, it would have taken alot longer, to rule out the food. But its a personal choice, and as we say in the horse world, what works for one horse, may not work for another, so we have to go with what works best for us and our kitties.
Here is a good site to read about kitties. Best of luck with your cat/kitten search.
http://catinfo.org/
The thing you need to remember with kittens, is they have very sensative little systems. Any food change, must be made over 2 weeks. With kittens, its really not a good idea, to rotate foods, it upsets their systems. Kittens need to be on kitten food, its higher in protein and calories, for their growing bodys. You want to stay away from purina kitten chow, friskies kitten chow, any purina products. I feed Blue Wilderness, its by Blue Buffalo. Last recall was in 2010, and it was because too much vitamin D was showing up in the dog food, dogs got sick, none died. It was because they processed a vitamin D product, and did not clean the machine properly, before they processed the dog food. They were not involved with the Menu Foods saga of 2007, too many other companies were.
Since you are a dog food nutritionist, you know the importance of grain free, by product free, soy free, so won't go into that, lol.
Wet is better than dry. You need to feed wet, mixed with water, so it keeps them flushed out, that is imperative with little boy kitties, who are prone to crystals, urinary and bladder issues. Girl kitties can also have urinary issues, but boys are more prone to them. Grains is the biggest cause, its one of many. You also want to avoid feeding fish flavored foods and treats, like salmon flavored, tuna flavored, etc. That is another big cause of crystals.
If you go the fish oil route, make sure you get a good quality one, like nordic, and make sure its cold pressed.
Blue Wilderness already has the omega 3/6 in there, it has the highest amount. Freedom, also by Blue Buffalo, is grain free too, it does not have any fish meal in it, and its lower in fat and protein %'s, and has the omega 3/6. The poster who said, nutrients are lost in processing, is correct, in some instances, the process, not the poster, lol. But now with Blue Wilderness, their fur is soft and shiny, and I see many people, say the same thing, cat and dog people, on the BB FB site.
I feed wet in the morn, mixed with water, and dry at night, and mine are scheduled fed.
I don't agree with rotating feeds, if there is an issue, the first thing the vet will ask you, what do you feed, they rule out the food first. If one is feeding more than one food, its harder and takes longer, to rule out the food. I had an issue a few yrs ago, and time was critical, they had specialists working on her. She only ate BW, so they ruled that out, almost immed, and with a call to BB. If she was eating more than one, it would have taken alot longer, to rule out the food. But its a personal choice, and as we say in the horse world, what works for one horse, may not work for another, so we have to go with what works best for us and our kitties.
Here is a good site to read about kitties. Best of luck with your cat/kitten search.
http://catinfo.org/
